Haymarket Reenactment Gets a Chicagoist Feel

By Chuck Sudo in News on Apr 27, 2011 9:00PM

We're taking a personal interest in Saturday's Haymarket Riot reenactment, and not only because of the combination of historical reenactments, honoring the labor movement and open participation could spell anything goes. The role of Mayor Carter Harrison is set to be played by none other than our own Kevin Robinson.

Harrison's role in the Haymarket Riot consisted mainly of walking through the crowd of anarchists and telling the police to leave them alone. This was before the pipe bomb went off that sparked thee riots. Harrison was also the first Chicago mayor to be elected five times and stayed in office through the World's Columbian Exposition, when he was murdered by a disgruntled office seeker named Patrick Eugene Prendergast on October 28, 1893. Harrison is buried at Graceland Cemetery.